Chapter Six

Dean and Patrick got back to the valley without a problem on a different route and the demigod sent the younger man straight back to Creide's hut while he did a little detour so that they would arrive separately. He felt like a child again when he was sneaking around in the forest hiding from the spirits for fun while they tried their best to catch him. When he finally reached the clearing he saw both the older witch and her son standing outside and for a moment he thought that Creide saw through Patrick's lie about spending the day with the wolf spirits at the bottom of the hill, but then he saw that she was in a cheerful mood. Her lips curled into a faint smile around the long thin smoking pipe she held in her hand and the scent of diviner's sage and tobacco filled Dean's nose.

'There ye are' Creide exclaimed. 'Put that bag down already and come' she was already walking away from her house Patrick following her uncertainly.

'What is going on?' Dean asked after he put the bag down, not like anyone would stole it from Creide's hut.

'We're gonna watch how Puck tortures an archangel' Creide laughed and a grin spread on Dean's face too immediately.

'Oh, they're back?' he asked and Creide just smiled back at him over her shoulder. Oh this was going to be so amusing. Dean was chuckling to himself as his steps became hurried.

'I still don't get it' Patrick said.

'Because ye were only a few moons old when Puck last played this game to teach Deandalon' Creide answered. 'But ye were giggling in delight' she added as she patted the young man's cheek.

It only took a little walk when Dean first heard the familiar whoosh sound that he hated with passion back in the day and it only took a short walk before they got close enough to actually see. Like on cue one of Puck's blue portals opened in about twenty feet high and Gabriel fell through it and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Unusual laughter caught Dean's ear and he turned to see a second Gabriel – most definitely Puck – sitting on one of the thick tree branches and looking down onto the angel.

'This is the fourth time you fell for the same trick bucko. Are you always this dumb or are you just making extra effort for yours truly?' he asked with a smirk. Gabriel got onto his feet and he looked so annoyed that it was almost murderous. Creide sat down onto a bigger three trunk comfortably and Dean leaned to a tree as well, because this was going to be amusing.

'Ready big guy?' Puck asked as he vanished from the branch and appeared not far away from Gabriel. 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe' he crooned cheerfully as five Gabriels appeared all around the real archangel. 'Catch the fairy by the toe.'

The real Gabriel vanished from within the circle and a second later one of the fake Gabriels broke apart to blue light and Gabriel re-appeared again landing on the ground after falling through a blue portal high up in the trees.

'You're so dim, I will win. Cause I'm the best while angels are just little pests' Puck continued the rhyme as he laughed and the copies appeared again. Gabriel vanished from sight again and all copies did as well. This time it took only a second longer before again came the whoosh of the portal opening and Gabriel landed where he just stood up from a moment later. He cursed loudly in a language that Dean didn't know.

Creide was now chuckling near him and Dean too had a permanent smile on his face.

'I think I'm starting to see what ye meant' Patrick remarked as they watched how several copies appeared all around again but not in a circle but on random visible spots. Gabriel growled as he shifted his eyes around and then he was again gone and this time Dean caught the sound of fluttering wings as he disappeared. And he promptly slammed into the ground just a moment later so hard that had Dean chuckling too at this point, while Creide outright laughed.

The demigod caught how Gabriel's golden eyes landed on them for a fragment of a second, but then he was gone again, then back through the portal a few moments after. It went on for a while and every time the archangel reappeared and stood up he looked more frustrated. The sound of his wings got louder every time to the point where dry leaves stirred up from the ground from a sharp quick furious wind. Puck just kept taunting him with his little rhymes and insults, smirking and laughing in delight at every turn when Gabriel landed in the dirt. Dean was laughing with Creide now and Patrick was chuckling too. This was not an everyday sight that was for sure. Dean also shook his head when he compared Gabriel's stormy expression to Puck's duplication of the same face as the faun was grinning sharply with mischief in his eyes. Not once did he see the angel smile and again thought that it was a damn shame.

This time when Gabriel reappeared the portal didn't open high up among the trees but on ground level and it caused the archangel to lose his balance when he slipped through it and he literally made a tree curl out of the ground and fall down to catch himself. All three of them laughed out loud after snapping out of the very quick shock the scene caused.

'Silence!' Gabriel growled and Dean felt his power whip around them instantly, the angel's eyes were so light and golden that it almost looked like they were glowing from the inside, maybe they were.

'Control your power, Gabriel' appeared Puck at a top of a tree again, still wearing Gabriel's face, well the face of his human form anyways. 'You're glowing like a pixie again' he added. 'No matter how powerful Creide's magic is it won't hide you if you lose your temper and set your power free. You have to keep yourself limited.'

'I know that' Gabriel spat, his face still darkened with anger.

'Do you?' Puck asked in return.

'Do not lecture me!' Gabriel snapped at him.

'Oh you angels always think that you know everything' Puck told him. 'I certainly do not need to tell you how far pride can make you fall.'

Gabriel's expression froze as he stared at the faun.

'Besides, did you truly expect to beat a fairy at his own game?' he asked then as he raised his eyebrows. 'Maybe, just maybe you could take on Dean, but not me bucko.'

'Hah, no way Puck' Dean exclaimed. Because he was no fairy, but he was very good at this, he lived his life and got away from trouble countless times by relying on the skills he learned from this game. 'He wouldn't stand a chance' he finished looking at the angel with a smile, but he just narrowed his eyes on him.

'Oh really?' Puck turned to him. 'By all means, join us then if you're so sure of yourself chucklehead' he said. Dean snorted, yeah like he would subject himself to Puck's torment out of his free will.

'This is Gabriel's game now' he said.

'What's the matter… Dandelion?' Puck cooed from the tree and Creide started to laugh quietly next to him while Dean scoffed at the faun. 'Are you so out of form that you shy away from a little game?' he asked. 'Or are you just scared that Gabriel learned more in one day than you managed in your entire life? It is possible; you were always a little slow after all.' He grinned at him challengingly and Dean cursed as he pushed himself away from the tree, he heard how the witches were chuckling behind him.

'So what? You want me to get away from him?' he asked spreading his arms. 'Because no way he's goon enough yet to catch me' Gabriel was looking at him now.

'Oh no' Puck laughed as his copies appeared again, but this time half of them looked like Dean. 'You and pixie-boy will race each other' he smiled. Dean quickly thought about it and oh that greasy bugswallower! This would make the entire game a lot harder.

Normally this fairy game was played by two, one chasing the other. No magic was allowed just the ones set by the rules. The one running could use illusions and portals and the chaser had to be observant and fast enough to spot and catch the real target. Catching a fake usually meant that you got sucked into a portal and tossed around in the ether before it spit you back into the material plane. Puck was really good at playing it even if he didn't do it for amusement, or not completely. It was the best way for Dean to learn how to be quick and how to fight out of instinct and also how to pick his battles wisely; it was the best way to learn skills he needed as he was always surrounded by beings that had much greater power. He could trick and hide and do it real fast and sometimes for someone like him that was the only way to survive.

It was the best way to teach Gabriel how to get used to be "limited". Puck was right; Creide's spell won't hide him if he used his powers to a great extent. He had to learn how to handle himself even without most of his abilities or he would reveal what he really was.

Annoying the one chasing you to make him angry and less focused was always a good tactic in this game, but probably Puck would've done it even if it wasn't useful or if Gabriel didn't have to learn how to control his power. And if Puck's playful – and annoying – mockery angered him enough to lose his grip on his power than a real enemy would get him to light up like the sun in a heartbeat and that would be the end of his hiding.

Now Dean looked around at the copies of Gabriel and himself and really wanted to curse for a long period of time. He only managed to win in all these years a handful of times and he had a feeling that this day won't bring him the next victory.

x~x~x

Creide and Patrick left them to their game after a while. Dean was sure that he should've never called Puck "his friend"… ever, all he wanted was to grab the bastard and beat him up really badly only after a few hours. Gabriel rather looked like that he was on the verge of smiting the entire human world just so he could get rid of Puck along with it. He also looked like he wanted to kill Dean half the time, but that feeling was mutual as they did nothing but hinder each other to Puck's great amusement. Dean also forgot that after a few hours of sliding in and out of the ether through Puck's portals and being tossed around in them would make him sick. Not to the point of throwing up of course, but it was still distracting. And on top of everything Dean had to learn the hard way that slamming into Gabriel with full force hurt him a lot more than it did the angel. It was like flying headfirst into a cliff that was from a particularly hard type of stone.

He managed to get sucked into a portal once again and he landed on the ground with his back as his breath got knocked out of him, but he didn't have time to move as Gabriel landed right on top of him right after. That… hurt. He was practically the only one getting hurt… bloody brilliant.

'I think we had enough for today' Puck said and hearing his real voice was actually a relief for Dean. He was tired and bruised and he was as weak as a salmon in a sandpit.

'Fine. Get off me scamp' Dean grumbled as the archangel rolled down from him, but didn't stood up just lay back onto the grass which surprised the demigod.

'You dumb and dumber enjoy your evening and we can have round two tomorrow' the faun said, but Dean was too tired to move and try to strangle him. Gabriel didn't move either even if he didn't look tired at all, maybe he was just fed up. Puck disappeared in the next moment and there was finally silence.

'I hate Puck' Gabriel said after a long pause and that made Dean chuckle.

'I hate him too' he agreed and he turned to stand up and pain shoot into his side. 'Ouch, damn I think you broke a rib there' he said and groaned as he sat up then stood. His back hurt and his head ached, he felt ridiculously human. He had to go to Creide now so she could take a look at his ribs. He really didn't need a bloody broken bone. He stopped moving when he felt a hand on his injured side and he blinked down at Gabriel curiously. The angel spread his fingers over his ribs, and then he frowned down onto his hand a second later. Dean waited a few moments, but the angel didn't move nor did he say anything.

'Gabriel?' he prompted.

'It's not broken' the archangel said then, but he was still frowning. 'Just bruised.'

'That's good to know' Dean said and was relieved.

'I didn't intend to injure you' Gabriel said next.

'Nah, it's all right. We hate Puck for it, remember?' he said with a grin and his eyes probably widened when he looked how Gabriel's lips curled up into a smile too. It was strange, not in a bad way, just unusual. Most definitely the first smile appearing on the angel's face and again it suited him much better than the always somber stern look.

'I apologize regardless' the angel said then as he drew his hand back from Dean's side. The smile fainted, but Gabriel's features remained somehow gentle, not the hard angry lines the god was used to see.

'It's fine. Not broken you said and I'm used to bruises, it'll heal in a few hours' he answered as he waved his hand. 'But I need to eat and sleep some now' he added. 'We can't let Puck win again tomorrow, so I need to get my strength back.'

'It would be wise to work against him together probably' Gabriel told him and Dean chuckled.

'Probably' Dean agreed. 'But this is not about defeating Puck, but about you learning something you'll need later so we probably shouldn't forge alliance against that darn fairy' he said. 'So I see you in a few hours then.' He only walked a few steps.

'Dean' he heard and he stopped and turned around. 'Thank you' Gabriel said as he finally looked at the god.

'For what?' he asked in return, genuinely curious.

'For everything' Gabriel said. 'I have neither asked for your help properly nor did I show my gratitude. So thank you.'

Dean stood dumbfounded for long moments, because he was not expecting that. The great archangel actually thanking him, he expected maybe a praise when he did what was asked of him well when this all ended, not genuine gratitude. And he felt bad for his not so selfless assistance almost immediately.

'No it's… nothing. Not like it's a bother or anything.'

'Really?' Gabriel asked and what do you know he was capable of showing skepticism too.

'Yeah okay, I needed you around here like a kick in the bollocks, but… you're turning out to be a lot less horrible than we first expected' at that was probably the least kind compliment of all times.

'This place is also a lot less horrible than I expected' Gabriel answered and Dean chuckled.

'Fair enough' he agreed as he started walking again then he stopped and turned around again. 'Did you just call me "Dean"?' he asked, because that didn't happen either.

'Not because I wanted to disrespect you as many seem to call you that, but if you're objecting I'm more than willing to use "Dandelion" instead' Gabriel told him sternly and Dean started laughing, but dear stars how much he hated being called that.

'If you do I will call you "Pixie-boy" forever' Dean threatened.

'I hate Puck' Gabriel stated again and the demigod was laughing again at the edge of a real pout in the angel's tone.